The Sika rut, particularly in Scotland, can be a drawn out affair. But most of the bigger stags usually rut around mid to late September, through to 2nd week of October. Younger stags will carry on whistling for longer, sometimes into December.
I have noticed over the years, in relation to the highlands, Sika will sometimes go off the boil if the weather is too warm. Much depends on the area. Along the kyle of Sutherland the rut can start early, it tends to be a bit colder and hold a frosty morning at times. On the other hand, where I stalk now, it might not kick in until later in September, even though we are a bit further north.
Never an easy beast to stalk and take a really big one off the ground. Out of all the deer, they are my favourite to stalk.
